Someone asked me whether the continued coverage of the Dimitri Soudas/Eve Adams meltdown in this space means I harbour ambitions to write for Hello! magazine.

It’s true there are more important things going on in the world. But few are as captivating as the Shakespearean tragedy that has already seen Mr. Soudas fired as executive director of the Conservative Party and now threatens to have Ms. Adams blocked as a potential candidate in the greater Toronto riding of Oakville North Burlington.

A popular Mississauga city councillor, Ms. Adams made the jump to federal politics that year by beating Liberal favourite Navdeep Bains in Mississauga Brampton South. Labelled the hottest female candidate of the 2011 election by the Toronto Sun, she enjoyed press coverage that lauded her cabinet potential; she was chosen to escort William and Kate on their royal tour; and she spoke glowingly of then finance minister Jim Flaherty at the Rob Ford family summer barbeque, back when His Worship was more asset than liability to federal Tories.

But scandal had a habit of following Ms. Adams, and by that September, as she prepared for her first Parliamentary session, it kicked into gear again.

Her husband, Peter Adams, ran to replace her on Mississauga council, and swiftly ran into trouble for re-purposing her campaign signs for himself. He lost, but the sign scandal recalled an earlier episode in 2003, the year she was first elected councillor in Mississauga (and two years after graduating from the University of Western Ontario with a bachelor of art in psychology), when Mr. Adams was charged criminally with possession of stolen property in a case of stolen election signs. The charge was dropped in a plea bargain that involved a charitable donation.

By November of 2011, the marriage was over, and Ms. Adams’ appearance at an Ottawa dinner with Mr. Soudas — who had just quit as director of communications for Mr. Harper to be the chief Canadian Olympic Committee spokesman — caused a furore among Ottawa watchers, with some denouncing the gossipy focus on the love lives of parliamentarians, and CBC convening a televised panel to discuss whether they should discuss it.

Amid her troubles of this week, though, that relationship was at the centre of the news: Her fiancé Dimitri Soudas was fired as the Conservative party’s executive director, allegedly for breaking a promise not to interfere with the nomination battle Ms. Adams is fighting in a new Toronto-area riding. The Conservative party is investigating complaints by a riding association about her bullying and “verbal abuse.”

“I’m sorry to the PM for all the grief that this has caused,” Mr. Soudas said Thursday, explaining that he helped her campaign because she was “incapacitated” due to a concussion from a recent fall. “But ultimately in life you have to stand by the person that you care for and love in a difficult moment.”

Scandals may follow her, both of her own making and others — her friend-turned-rival from Mississauga council days, Carolyn Parrish, said on Twitter that Ms. Adams, 39, is a “cyborg, built with perfect posture, no feelings and an overwhelming desire to take over the universe,’’ a comment that may say more about former Liberal MP Parrish than current Conservative MP Adams — but she has long demonstrated an ability to survive and win the confidence of voters.

In 2006, for example, as a Mississauga councillor, Ms. Adams was found to have violated conflict of interest policy by ordering two employees to work on her campaign, putting up signs early, and failing to get the permission of home owners. Long-term Mayor Hazel McCallion said she had a file “half an inch thick” to back it up. Ms. Adams denied it, and was soon re-elected.

Michael Sona, a Conservative campaign worker who caused scandal by allegedly trying to shut down a university ballot station during the 2011 campaign when he worked for Guelph candidate Marty Burke, quit as Ms. Adams’ staffer in February, 2012, as the robocalls scandal blew up publicly. His trial on charges of trying to prevent an elector from voting is set for June.

And of course no Canadian political scandal, however fleeting, would be complete without two hallmarks: the rumours about a public tantrum, and the disputed expenses.

Last summer, for example, it emerged Ms. Adams’ 2011 campaign claimed for $2,777 in expenses including salon and dry-cleaning, a $2.63 charge at a cupcake shop, restaurant bills and child care, even a “victory party” at a steakhouse that was repaid. Many of these claims were eventually refused, late last year.

Ms. Adams “is trying to get a taxpayer rebate for beauty products and services during the last election.” said Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett.

Last summer, she was ticketed for a driving infraction on Parliament Hill, but denied a report she tried to pull rank on the officer who stopped her.

Then came the gas station episode, security images of which have made the rounds this week, evidently a dispute over a car wash she deemed unsatisfactory, leading to a confrontation for which the owner demanded a written apology from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Ms. Adams seemingly used her car to partially block access to the refuelling area at an west-end Ottawa Esso station for 15 minutes last December.

For her part, Ms. Adams says she moved her car twice at the behest of gas station attendants before parking where she did.

“The entire time I simply said, look, if I could simply go through the wash a second time, or if not, could they kindly refund the unused car washes I had just bought moments ago,” Ms. Adams said. “In any event, I regret what happened and I apologized to Mr. Newcombe many months ago.”

Ms. Adams inspires mixed feelings among her colleagues, particularly those in southern Ontario who were puzzled by her decision to seek the nomination in a completely different riding.